


BNA- 2 sides

by DerpBerd



Category: BNA: Brand New Animal (Anime)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Insanity, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:55:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 14,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29590329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DerpBerd/pseuds/DerpBerd
Summary: This takes place roughly a month after BNA ends. Trigger warning ahead of time, Do not read the final chapter if you are sensitive to suicidal thoughts in any way. There's 2 additional chapters that are just ideas I had for the final chapter but was scrapped due to it not fitting the story.
Relationships: Hiwatashi Nazuna/Kagemori Michiru
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

It’s the complete dead of night in Anima City, even Rabbit Town is all silent but there’s one figure that’s awake. They’re wandering the silent and cold streets of Anima City but stop in front of an alley. There’s a guy standing in the dim light of a lamp, “Stop staring at me unless you want to fight.” The figure steps into the light of the lamp, it’s Michiru Kagemori but their face is dead and emotionless. She starts walking towards him, “Do you want to fight or something!?” He pulls out a switchblade but starts backing into the alley, Michiru follows them and picks up speed. Soon she’s full on sprinting towards them, she lifts them up by the neck and a loud “ _ Snap _ ” rings out from the alley breaking the silence of the night.   
  
Michiru wakes up with a smile and stretches before hearing a knock at her door. She opens it and sees Shirou standing in front of a few cops, “Hey Shirou! Is there anyt-'' Michiru attempts to greet him warmly but is cut off “Mind telling me what happened last night.” Michiru’s warm smile disappears, “What do you mean?” Shirou coldly stares directly at her “There’s a dead body, and your scent is all around it.” “What?! No, there has to be something wrong!” Michiru tenses up and gets ready to bolt.   
  
“Don’t run, there’s nothing to gain from it and it would only get wo-” Shirou gets cut off when Michiru pushes past him in a scared rush, she skips the stairs of the CO-OP completely and dives off the side of the roof, she rises up quickly and looks behind her to see the cops rushing down the CO-OP stairs. “This has to be a mistake, it has to be! I can’t actually h-h-have killed someone!!” Her breathing gets panicked as she soon nose dives into an alley, she hides herself in the darkest corner of the alleyway and tries to calm herself down.   
  
“Come on, it has to be a mistake. It has to be a mistake. They’re just wrong.” Michiru’s breathing gets even more panicked as she hears police sirens pass by, she curls up into a tiny ball as she starts crying her eyes out. After what feels like hours she hears the swishing of a trenchcoat and a rough hand grab her by the collar “No! Stop! Let me go!!” Michiru starts kicking and screaming against Shirou and soon starts clawing at his hands.   
  
Michiru’s claws change and dig into his hands, he lets go of her and she instantly takes advantage of it by running back to the end of the alley. He starts to approach her but as he does she starts having a panic attack, he hesitates for a few seconds but picks her back up.   
  
Michiru attempts to convince him to let her go but fails and stops struggling, she turns her attention to trying to calm herself down. Michiru passes out after feeling something hard hit her on the head. She wakes up in an interrogation room with Shirou right across from her, “Why am I here?! I didn’t do anything!” Shirou practically smells the terror radiating off of her and feels pity but shoves it to the side, “Stop playing dumb. What was your reason?”    
  
Michiru curls into a tight ball as she starts rocking back and forth in the chair. Shirou starts yelling at her “Answer me! You can’t just keep avoiding it!” She starts crying loudly as the yelling continues. He slams his fists down onto the table and storms off, Michiru stands up and stumbles over to a corner of the room. After hours of crying she passes out with tears staining the fur around her eyes.   



	2. Chapter 2

Michiru wakes up with tears stinging her eyes. She sits up and shoves her head into her knees as the minute tick by slowly, eventually the creak of a metal door alerts her. Her panic returns when she hears the swishing of a trench coat approach her, “Please leave me alone. I didn’t do anything.” Shirou grabs her collar and lifts her up, “Look at me. Just tell me what you were doing that night and I’ll leave you alone.” Michiru calms down and manages to cough out her reply “I was asleep the entire night. I was dreaming about the Nirvasyl outbreak and the time y-you bit me but after I didn’t have any other dreams that night, it felt like my head was blank.”   
  
Shirou drops her with a small thud and walks out of the room. Michiru’s tail starts glowing and snakes into her arms before puffing up. She starts crying, soaking her tail through with tears for the next few hours. She feels a tap on her shoulder and sees Shirou standing over her. Her tail glows and puffs up again, covering part of her face and muffling her now louder crying.   
  
“Stop crying, stand up and follow me.” He reaches down towards her but she flinches away from his touch, “Please stop Shirou, I didn’t do anything. Just leave me alone.” Shirou shakes his head “Just stand up. You won’t be bothered after we’re done.” Michiru’s tail returns to its normal size and she stands up. Shirou walks out of the room and she follows him, as they walk down the hallway Michiru flinches at every noise.   
  
They end up in a room with medical equipment. Michiru tries to run back out of the room but Shirou grabs her by the collar and shuts the door with a violent slam. Michiru starts clawing at his hands but is calmed down by him “It’s just blood testing equipment.” Michiru sits down on the chair and starts nodding off to sleep.   
  
When she wakes up she has a bandage wrapped around her arm and sees Shirou standing in the frame of the door, “Wait, did I fall asleep?” Shirou only nods in response and a look of pure fear crosses Michiru’s face as her mind races with scenarios.   
  
Shirou walks toward her with concern “Is something wrong?” Michiru’s ears start ringing as her panic increases. She feels a touch on her shoulder and her panic reaches it’s peak, “Leave me alone!!” Michiru’s tail glows a violent blue and puffs up, pushing her slightly out of the seat and obscuring most of her as she curls up into a ball.   
  
Michiru hears Shirou talking but his words are mostly drowned out by the ringing in her ears. After a few minutes the ringing finally dissipates and she hears his words “Are you ok?!” Michiru whispers “I’m fine.” Shirou starts pressuring her “Are you really?” Michiru repeats herself “I’m fine.” Shirou gets more aggressive “You’re obviously not.” Michiru’s response gets more panicky “I t-told you, I'm fine.” Shirou borderline yells “Stop hiding things from me.” Michiru yells “I’m fine!”   
  
After that outburst Shirou stops, “Follow me.” Michiru’s tail returns to it’s normal size and she follows him. The walk towards their destination blurs together and for a few seconds Michiru feels like her head blacks out but she shakes her head when she hears a door clang. She enters a room with a single bed and nothing else, she sits down in the corner of the room and shoves her head into her knees.   



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small note before you read this chapter. Some of them will be incredibly short due to ideas not always running smoothly together if it was lengthened.

Shirou opens the door of the holding cell that Michiru is in to find her lying on the floor with bite and claw marks all over her body. Shirou rushes over to her, “What happened!?” Michiru answers “I kept myself awake so I didn’t hurt anyone.” Shirou picks her up and starts rushing through the hallways in an attempt to find someone who can help her.   
  
Michiru’s head starts pounding as a headache starts to pierce through her head. After 5 minutes she’s left whimpering in pain as it gets worse. Soon her whimpers turn into screams of pure pain, ringing out through the halls. Michiru passes out from the pain and Shirou starts sprinting through the random hallways.   
  
When Michiru wakes up she feels bandages covering most of her body. She attempts to sit up but a stinging feeling rips through her body causing tears of pain to form in her eyes. She looks around to see Shirou standing in the frame of the door “What did you mean earlier?” Michiru panickedly responds “Nothing! It was nothing!” He pressures her more “I’m not taking that as an answer, tell me now.”    
  
The reponses get more panicked “I-it was nothing!!” Michiru tries to sit up again but the stinging feeling rips through her chest once more causing her to yell out in pain. Shirou yells at her this time “Something is going on and you won’t tell me! Either you tell me or next time I’ll just leave you to die!”    
  
Michiru doesn’t reply this time as tears start racing down her face and staining the fur around her eyes. Her tail glows and snakes its way to the front of her chest. She tries to grab at it but her arms are covered in bandages, limiting her movement and any movement she can make causes her arms to flare up in absolute pain.   
  
Her breathing gets heavy and her vision gets blurry. The world starts swimming and the last thing she sees before blacking out is Shirou walking towards her with a disappointed glare, dead set right on her.   



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First trigger warning of the work. Self harm is included in this chapter.

Michiru wakes up with bandages still wrapped around her. She lies there in silence with the occasional wave of pain ripping through her body. She sits up and starts walking towards the door with waves of pain ripping through her body with each movement. She punches straight through the door, she starts walking through the halls silently. She finds a window and breaks it. She climbs out of it and walks away from the police station. After a few hours of walking she finds herself in an alleyway.   
  
She shakes her head and looks around, “What? How did I get here?” She hears the sound of police sirens approaching her. She runs further into the alley and hides, the sound fades into silence and she’s left there thinking. She starts thinking out loud “Did I just break out of prison? I can’t have…..” She trails off as her head starts to go blank.   
  
She hears the trench coat of Shirou but she doesn’t panic. She calmly stands up and stares at Shirou with a blank expression. Shirou attempts to talk to her but she speeds at him, catching him off guard for a few seconds. He quickly dodges her and turns to face her. In an almost slow motion view he looks towards her eyes and sees it change colors, from a teal and pink tone to an almost crimson red.   
  
His mind starts to race with possibilities but before he can think of any solutions Michiru jumps back towards him at blistering speeds. She pins him to the ground and starts clawing and biting at him. Her blank expression turns into an animal like snarl, for a second she stops and backs away from the now bleeding Shirou.    
  
She runs away from Shirou with an extremely panicked expression, the sprint away from him blurs together and for a few seconds Michiru’s mind blanks again but she stops herself from completely blacking out, “D-did I fall asleep again? I c-can’t actually have fallen asleep again.” She finds herself in another alley and hides herself in the absolute darkest corner of it, she nods off to sleep for a few seconds but bites deeply into her arm to keep herself awake.


	5. Chapter 5

The early lights of day hit Michiru’s eyes and she stands up. She starts walking towards the entrance of the alley but stops when she hears police sirens approaching. She starts ascending into the air and rises to the point that she can barely see the police cars with only the lights visible.   
  
She starts flying towards Nazuna’s newly bought house, “I hope Nazuna understands. I really hope she can help.” After a few minutes she lands on Nazuna’s balcony to find her curled up in a ball on her bed, shuddering with each breath.   
  
“Nazuna?” Michiru gently opens the glass door and Nazuna gasps when she hears Michiru’s voice, “Michiru!?” Nazuna quickly sits up and turns over to face her but an incredible amount of concern passes over Nazuna’s face, “Why are you in bandages?! Are you ok?!” Michiru tries walking towards Nazuna but the pain she’s been ignoring is finally unbearable and she falls to the floor.   
  
Nazuna rushes over to Michiru and props her up against her shoulder, “What’s wrong!?” Michiru starts tearing up, “I knew you’d care but I……… I did something horrible. I killed someone.” “What?!”    
  
Nazuna’s concern and panic starts to ramp up. Michiru continues on “I don’t know if I actually did, I was asleep. At least I think I was. I don’t know. I don’t want to sleep because I’m afraid someone might get hurt.”   
  
“You look tired, I know you don’t want to sleep but you need to. I’ll make sure nothing bad will happen.” Nazuna gently brings Michiru closer to her, “I’ll make sure nothing bad happens, so sleep.” Michiru feels Nazuna gently pick her up and bring Michiru closer to her. Michiru closes her eyes as she feels something velvety wrap around her.    
  
A few seconds later she falls asleep with the feeling persisting. For a few seconds she wakes up to see Nazuna sitting next to her with a bandage and feels it wrapping around her arm. She falls back asleep with a content smile.   



	6. Chapter 6

Michiru starts having a fever dream and mummering in her sleep “N-no. N-nazuna…… help me………… Please……….” Nazuna wakes up to hear Michiru panicking in her sleep. She sits up and faces Michiru. She gently props Michiru up and hugs her, “Please calm down, don’t be scared. I’m here for you.”    
  
Michiru’s fever dream picks up in intensity and soon she wakes up panicked. Nazuna hugs Michiru even tighter and soon Michiru calms down, “There we go Michiru, there’s no need to be scared. I’m here for you, you’ll be fine.”    
  
Michiru attempts to tear herself away from Nazuna’s hug but Nazuna brings her closer into her hug. Michiru asks “Can I show you a trick?” Nazuna pushes her away, “No, you need rest and whatever trick you’re going to show me isn’t worth it.” Nazuna lays Michiru down back onto the bed and walks away. Michiru lies there in the silence of the room and notices that most of the bandages aren’t there.   
  
As if on cue Nazuna walks in with a roll of bandages, “Your bandages got dirty again. Sit up for me please.” Michiru sits up and lets Nazuna put new bandages on. It stings every now and then but soon they’re changed. Nazuna hugs her, “There we go, you’re great Michiru. You can leave in a day or two, for now though you’ll be staying here. Now go back to sleep, you need rest.”   
  
Michiru lies back down and Nazuna follows her with a smug grin. Michiru’s tail glows blue and snakes around both of them before puffing up and tightening slightly, “Guess I still showed my trick.” Michiru sleepily giggles and falls asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Michiru wakes up to find Nazuna tightly hugging her. She tries to get out of Nazuna’s hug but Nazuna digs her claws into Michiru’s side, “Sorry, but you shouldn’t move. You need to rest and I’ll take care of you. You know there’s something you need to know. You’re important to me, incredibly important. So  **you** need to stay healthy for me, and if that needs to happen forcefully, so be it. Thanks to you showing me your nice little trick, I can keep you like this as long as I need to.” Nazuna’s tail glows pink and wraps around Michiru’s arms.   
  
Michiru starts panicking and Nazuna tries to calm her down “Please don’t panic Michiru. I just want to keep you safe.  _ So cute. _ ” Nazuna’s tail starts restricting around Michiru making her movement even harder. Nazuna giggles, “You’ve been very tired haven’t you. You’ve been so scared too but I'll make sure you’re safe.”   
  
Michiru starts repeating “This can’t be real.” Her vision starts to get a blurry red and Nazuna starts digging her claws deeper into Michiru’s side. Soon Michiru bolts up, “Wait, was that a nightmare?”    
  
She looks around and sees Nazuna walking into the doorway. Michiru starts panicking, “Leave me alone.” Her tail starts glowing blue and wraps around her before puffing up.   
  
Michiru is mostly obscured by her tail but she still hears Nazuna, “You’ve been having a fever for 2 days now. You probably shouldn’t be like that.” Michiru starts muttering to herself “I can’t tell what’s real anymore. I don’t know what’s even real and I'm scared.” She passes out still wrapped up in her tail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you confused, this chapter can either be taken as another fever dream or a hallucination. Whichever you feel is more fitting.


	8. Chapter 8

Nazuna hears Michiru whimpering in pain. She walks into the room to see Michiru sitting in the corner while clutching at her head. A few seconds later Michiru lowers her hands and stands up calmly.    
  
“Are you ok Mi-” Before Nazuna can finish her sentence Michiru rushes towards her and raises her hand. She swipes towards Nazuna’s face but pauses an inch before it hits her.   
  
Michiru’s hand shakes intensely. Nazuna looks up towards Michiru and sees her eyes shift between their teal and pink mix to a crimson red color. Michiru lowers her hand and her eyes settle on it’s normal colors.    
  
Michiru starts tearing up when she sees Nazuna panicking. Michiru runs off Nazuna’s balcony and rises quickly. She starts thinking out loud “Maybe if I just go back to the mainland I won’t be able to hurt anyone.”   
  
Michiru flies towards the mainland and lands near the bridge connecting the island. She starts walking across the bridge and continues thinking out loud “Maybe I can take off these bandages, they don’t hurt anymore so they should be fine. I wonder how my parents are doing, I haven’t visited them for a while so we gotta have a lot to talk about.” She walks all the way to the mainland and walks around the place that used to be her home.   
  
She passes by a store selling technical equipment and notices that wireless headphones are on sale, “I know I shouldn’t but what could be the consequences, nobody here knows yet so I may as well.”    
  
She walks into the store and hears the speakers playing one of Nazuna’s songs. She inspects the headphones and buys them after some more internal self debate. The clerk asks for a credit card number and Michiru charges it to Shirou’s number.   
  
She mutters under her breath “That grumpy wolf better not bring this up.” and walks out of the shop with the newly acquired headphones.   
  
She sets them up to her phone and starts listening to Night Running. After a few seconds she starts singing along with it. She walks around the rest of the town and soon sunset approaches. Having no other place to stay for the night she starts walking towards her parent’s house.    
  
It reaches close to midnight by the time she arrives and notices a for sale sign in front of the house. Her mind starts racing and her ears shift, she hears the faint crying of her mother.   
  
She sneaks in from the slightly ajar door and sees an assortment of mail. She picks up one of them. She has to fight back tears as she reads it to herself, it’s a death threat. Her mind races even further as she starts to wonder what happened to her dad. She barely contains herself from breaking out in tears. She sneaks out of the house.   
  
Her mind starts to blank as she walks further from the house. She fumbles with her headphones and violently shoves them into her ears, she pulls out her phone and presses play on Nazuna’s version of Night Running.   
  
She slams her fingers onto the volume up button to it’s maximum volume. It hurts her ears slightly but she adjusts to it. She starts sprinting through the streets of the town and ends up in a dark alley.   
  
She starts tearing off the bandages that are wrapped around her and her wounds start stinging from the new contact with the air. As the song continues it starts aggravating horrible memories for her. She rips the mail out of her jacket pocket and reads it through tear stained eyes. When she’s done she starts thinking out loud “Do they actually think mom and dad are beastmen? Where  **is** dad?”    
  
After a few seconds she reaches a dread conclusion that starts to aggravate a headache. “No no no no no no no no no no no no. It can’t be real. He’s fine. He’s just in a hospital. He’s fine.” Michiru starts repeating those lines in an attempt to keep herself focused.   
  
She pauses Nazuna’s song and takes out her headphones. She throws her phone onto the ground and raises her foot above it. She contemplates slamming her foot onto it and crushing it to tiny pieces.    
  
The temptation to get rid of it completely is hard for her to get out of her head but she manages to get rid of it and picks up her phone. She resumes the song and shoves the headphones back into her ears. She falls asleep listening to music.


	9. Chapter 9

Michiru wakes up in the extremely early hours of the morning. She hears more of Nazuna’s songs playing through her headphones and she smiles. She starts walking around the town more. She passes by her house again and horrible thoughts start to scream into her head. “This can’t be real!”    
  
The thoughts make a piercing pain rip through her head, she clutches at her head. A few bystanders stop to look at the scene but rush away when Michiru’s screams reach painful levels.    
  
The thoughts exit her head and the pain does too thankfully. She walks through the town again and ends up in front of her school. “I wonder when I can go back here. Man I miss my friends.” She gets an idea “Wait! I can try to find my old phone! The card could still be working!” She starts sprinting towards through her path she took on the day she lost her phone.   
  
The day replays out in her head and her emotions get muddled together but thankfully she manages to focus on being happy. She ends up at the bus station she hitched a ride at. She climbs onto the top of the bus and takes out her phone, “I can’t wait to get my old phone back. There’s so much on there! Especially all my pics with Nazuna, those were the best.”   
  
The bus ride goes on for a while and soon she ends up at the spot her phone was shot out of her hands. Her nose transforms and she starts sniffing around for her phone. She picks up the scent trail and it leads near the ditch she fell in. She starts panicking but manages to calm herself down when she sees the scent trail hover around a spot on the ground.   
  
She runs over to it and sees her phone mostly destroyed but the bottom half is intact, “Yes! I can get the card! Maybe when this is all over I can get someone to put this in my new phone. Maybe I can go see mom. Yeah that seems like a good idea.” She starts trekking back to her house and it ends up being around noon.   
  
She knocks on the closed door and after a few seconds she sees her mom. Her mom practically screams in joy at seeing Michiru and wraps her in a tight hug. They spend the rest of the day happily chatting and Michiru carries most of it by telling her about the last year.    
  
Near night time Michiru asks a question that’s been nagging at her “What happened to dad?” Her mom solemnly replies “Why don’t we talk about that in the morning honey.” Michiru starts tearing up but nods anyways and walks into her old room. Everything is cleaned up and the mess that she left it is gone.   
  
The room is completely clean in fact. She jumps onto the bed and smiles. She snatches her phone out of her pocket and dials Nazuna’s number. After a few seconds Nazuna picks up “Michiru! You’re ok! Where are you?”    
  
Michiru chirps “I’m at my parents’ house.” Nazuna giggles, “Well that must be fun for you. It’s late so you should sleep. Bye Michi. Maybe when this is all done we can hang out again.”    
  
“I don’t really want to sleep, you know how I’m feeling about that.” Michiru lets loose a few tears and Nazuna continues on “You know you should, nothing bad will happen Michiru. You know nothing will. Now sleep my love bir- I mean Michiru.”    
  
Michiru questions her “What was that Nazuna?” Nazuna quickly shuts her down, “It was nothing Michiru. You’re really tired so you might’ve heard something that you didn’t actually hear.”   
  
Michiru shrugs and hangs up. She puts the phone on her desk and plugs it in, she drifts off to sleep with a slight confusion floating around her.


	10. Chapter 10

Michiru wakes up and walks into the living room to see her mom sitting there. Her mother starts talking “Your father, he, I don’t know how to word this but he died. People broke down our door a few days ago and they were screaming something about us being beastmen. I asked about it and they showed a video of you at a party. Your father tried to argue with them but they…….”   
  
She trails off and starts crying again. Michiru hugs her and time seems to slow down with only the sound of her mother’s crying filling the room. Michiru’s phone starts buzzing from her bedroom, “Can I go get that? It might be important.” Her mom nods slowly and Michiru walks away.   
  
She picks up her phone and sees it’s Nazuna’s number. She presses the answer button and Nazuna instantly starts talking “Michiru? I t-think you might want to check the news for Anima City, it hasn’t reached your town yet but it’s all over Anima. If you need to I’ll meet you under the bridge and take you over to my place. You can stay there till it blows over. Text me after you made your decision.”   
  
Michiru hangs up after the odd interaction with Nazuna and starts scrolling through her phone to find the news app. She finds it and clicks onto it. The news headline is simple but effective, “Criminal Tanuki.”    
  
She starts scrolling even faster and it lists details about her and what to do when finding her. Her panic ramps up but manages to text out the words “I’ll meet you there.” and starts preparing a red cloak, “Well, guess I had a second one of these. Wonder if they bought another for me.”   
  
She wraps it around herself and runs out of her house. Her mother screams after her but Michiru ignores her. She reaches into her pockets and takes out the headphones. She ends up at the bus station and starts walking towards Anima City. She skips down the road and feels a sense of joy, forgetting the sense of danger that she is in.   
  
Through her headphones she can make out the hum of a motorcycle. “Really, this?” She breaks into a sprint and the hum gets louder. She vaults over the railing and ends up in the same ditch, she rolls down the hill.   
  
The hum stops behind her. Michiru calmly walks forward and hears the crunching of grass. She attempts to negotiate with them before she even sees them, “Please don’t do what I think you’re about to do. It won’t end good for either of us.”   
  
The crunching of grass gets closer and she turns to her left to see someone with a pipe running towards her. They raise the pipe and swing towards her but she catches and blankly stares at them. Her arms transform and her grip around the pipe tightens, crushing it.   
  
The beastmen hunter drops their grip and backs away in fear. The others still rush at Michiru and another swings, the same process repeats until there’s roughly only 3 left. The first one backs away when Michiru simply stares at them.    
  
The second one throws their pipe instead but Michiru catches it and pitches it back at them, hitting them in the chest knocking them out cold. The final one rushes towards Michiru and swings with much more force than they must’ve intended, they miss her and she grabs them by the throat.   
  
She lifts them up and stares directly into their eyes. The last sight they see is Michiru’s cold, red eyes staring directly into their soul judging them for their actions before their neck snaps. The few hunters that were still around witness the event and run off not taking any more chances.   
  
Michiru climbs into a nearby tree and sits there for who knows how long until she hears sirens approaching. She looks around and sees the body, she panics immensely but stops herself from screaming. She silently climbs down the trees and sprints towards the bridge. She waits for Nazuna for the rest of the day and sees a boat approaching.   
  
It’s Marie’s boat with Nazuna sitting on it, “Get on. I had to wait till night so nobody would see us.” Michiru climbs on and goes into the cabin of the ship. Marie starts a conversation with her “So, seems like you’re in some trouble aren’t you tanuki. Don’t worry I won’t sell you out. I don’t have a use for it anyways. Anyways, I got some info for you. Free of charge, It’s not good enough to sell so I may as well tell you about it. Noticed anything odd about Nazuna recently?”    
  
  
Michiru confusedly says “No?” Marie snickers and continues “Even a mole should be able to see it but you’re hopeless. There’s this thing called scent marking that animals do.” Michiru questions her “What does that have to do with Nazuna?”    
  
She answers her “I’m getting to that. Quick biology lesson with me, you know how each beastmen has their unique scent? Animals have the same rules and whenever they rub up against something their scent leaves itself on the object. Beastmen can technically do the same but that’s only with a few things that they spend a lot of time with, like a phone.” Michiru asks her again “What exactly does this have to do with Nazuna again? I don’t really see how.”    
  
Marie snickers again and continues “Let’s say a beastmen we’re to spend 3 or so days constantly hugging and rubbing themselves up against a person, eventually they’d leave a scent mark. Nazuna has done exactly that. Another fun fact about scent marking, it’s used to tell other animals that this thing is their thing and nobody else can have it.”   
  
Michiru rubs her temples and tries to come up with an answer, “Nazuna just likes hugs, plus it was going to happen eventually.” Marie disappointedly looks at her “You’re basically drowning in Nazuna’s scent, if someone like the cops were to get near you you’d be just a pink blur.”    
  
Michiru asks “Why and how do you know all of this?” Marie glares at her, “Listen to me, be glad I gave any of this to you for free. Unless you want to cough up some money this time you won’t know.” Michiru tenses up and leaves the cabin.   
  
She comes face to face with Nazuna who is smugly grinning and in a sing-song voice she says “So, what did Marie tell you?” Michiru quickly changes the subject “Can we just sit together for a while. I feel scared again.” Nazuna wraps her in a hug, “Aw, come on. Tell me why you’re scared. I’ll be listening.”   
  
Michiru cries and starts stuttering “It happened again. It happened again and I'm scared. I feel so scared and I don’t want to go anywhere, I'm afraid I’ll hurt someone, Nazuna.” Nazuna wraps her in a tighter hug and nestles her face into the crook of Michiru’s neck. She starts subtly rubbing her face against it.   
  
Michiru gets a sense of surprise “What are you doing?” Nazuna smugly laughs “Well I heard everything that Marie said to you, so I can afford a few slip ups can’t I?” Michiru tenses up when Nazuna stops and pushes her face against her neck, slightly moving it.    
  
Michiru starts drifting off to sleep and she tries to move her arms to bite into them but Nazuna grabs at her arms, “Please don’t hurt yourself Michiru. I don’t want you to do that, it makes me sad to see you do that.” Michiru lowers her arms and soon falls asleep with Nazuna propping her up and her words echoing throughout Michiru’s head “There we go. You can sleep now, you’ll be safe.”   



	11. Chapter 11

Michiru wakes up to feel Nazuna nudging her in the side “Wake up sleepyhead, we’ve arrived.” It’s still late at night when they arrive, “Why did you wake me up Nazuna?” Nazuna gently props her up and supports her as she stumbles off the boat.   
  
Nazuna giggles “You must be so tired to be stumbling like that, don’t worry though. Climb onto my back and I'll fly you to where we need to be.” Michiru climbs onto her back and wraps her arms around Nazuna’s neck. The entire fly is a blur as Michiru fights off exhaustion. Nazuna lands at her house, “Oh that’s so pretty on you, can I try it on?”   
  
Michiru takes off her cloak sleepily and hands it over to her. She wraps it around herself and does a spin. Michiru wakes up almost immediately at seeing her movements, “You look nice! You can keep it if you want.”    
  
Nazuna nods and walks off to her room. Michiru sits down on her couch and sits in silence. She feels a tap on her shoulder and looks back to see Nazuna holding a sweater, “Why don’t you go put this on. It’s a sweater I bought a few weeks ago when I was planning to call you over to see me.”    
  
Michiru stands up and picks up the sweater “Wait, where do I go to put this on. I don’t know your house.” Nazuna giggles smugly “You can change in my bedroom, don’t worry i’ll wait outside for you.” Michiru walks to the bedroom and changes into it but finds that it’s too short, “Uh, Nazuna? It’s a bit too small for me.”   
  
Through the door she hears a muffled reply “Just sit down! You don’t have to spend the entire day like that, plus it was bought for me so it’s gonna be weird for you.” Michiru sits down and pulls the sweater down as far as possible “Ok you can look now Nazuna!”    
  
The door creaks open and Nazuna looks in. It takes a few seconds for her to talk but does anyway “You look cute! Now get out of that and let me change into it.” Under her breath she mutters “Gah, i’m glad I chose not to look like a human.”    
  
Her gaze shifts around the room like she’s trying to ignore Michiru. She walks out of the room and Michiru changes out of her sweater. She places it down in a neat fold and walks out. Nazuna goes inside and takes much longer than Michiru.    
  
She questions this “What are you taking so long! Did you confuse the top with the bottom or something?” Through the door she hears her laughing “No no, i’m just getting prepared for you.~”    
  
Michiru shrugs and leans against the door waiting for her. Nazuna yells out from behind the door “Can you turn into a human for a few seconds when you come look? That’s the only requirement for you to see me in the sweater.”   
  
Michiru obliges and walks into the room. She sees Nazuna sitting there and almost instantly Michiru starts blushing. She starts walking out of the room to avoid her mind going to places she doesn’t want to but gets yelled at “No! Don’t even dare leave! “ She tenses up and looks back at her.   
  
She tries her best not to stutter but does anyways “Y-you look great Nazuna, c-can I g-go sleep? I f-feel a b-bit tired.” Nazuna smugly laughs “Well you can lie down next to me then.~ It’ll be so great and you know that.” Michiru obliges and tries to ignore her.   
  
Nazuna completely drops her subtle approach and wraps Michiru in a tight hug. She wraps her legs around Michiru’s waist. She tenses up at Nazuna’s sudden movements but feels pity when she feels her shaking slightly.    
  
She hears her struggling to fight back tears but before she can question it she starts drifting off to sleep, soon she falls asleep with a sad hug wrapped around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next one are going to be joke chapters.


	12. Chapter 12

Michiru wakes up to feel Nazuna shaking and shuddering, “Nazuna? Are you ok?” Nazuna gasps and tightens her wrap around her, “I-i’m fine Michiru!!” Michiru laughs “Well, you obviously aren’t. Let me go and I'll talk to you about it.”    
  
She lets her go and they both sit up to face each other. Michiru tries to question her about it but starts laughing “Can you change out of that please, it’s hard to take this seriously when you’re dressed like that.”   
  
Nazuna laughs and Michiru stands up to walk outside the room. She waits for a minute before the door opens and sees her wearing her normal hoodie.    
  
Michiru compliments her “Well you look much better in a hoodie.” She mumbles an extra comment “Not that I was complaining about the sweater.” Michiru sits down and Nazuna follows her.   
  
Nazuna starts first “So, if I quit being an idol to spend more time with you would you be fine with that?” Michiru fake gasps but giggles “Well I think you should do whatever makes you happy.”    
  
Nazuna starts fiddling with her hair, “That’s the thing, I don’t know which to choose. You’re important to me but I feel like being an idol would make you happy too. It’s hard to explain really.”   
  
Michiru takes her hands and grabs Nazuna's, bringing her closer, “Well  **I** say you should continue being an idol, it seems to make you really happy. Although I wouldn’t exactly mind you taking a few days off for me while we wait for this to blow over.” Nazuna giggles and smiles “I knew you’d make the right choice for me.”   
  
Michiru giggles and smiles but her smile turns into a pained look. She forces her eyes shut and tries to cover them with an aggressive amount of force. Nazuna grabs her hands “Is something wrong?!”    
  
She gasps out her response “My eyes hurt.” Nazuna starts to get extremely concerned “Uh, shoot, keep your eyes closed for now. I’ll get you some sunglasses and i’ll close the shades around the house and dim the lights.”   
  
Michiru lies there as she hears the blinds being drawn across the windows. She tries to open her eyes but they start burning with pain. She painfully laughs “Well I guess that option is out the window.” Nazuna laughs alongside her “Well I guess it is, just sit there and wait for me.” Michiru closes her eyes and lies down.   
  
She hears Nazuna walk around the room and the clicks of various switches. She sighs as the silence starts to get unbearable. She pries her eyes open by a tiny margin but the light is still painful.    
  
She hears the creak of a floorboard and feels sunglasses slide onto her eyes. She slowly opens her eyes and the pain isn’t there anymore but she can barely see the room anymore, “I can’t see anymore Nazuna, I can barely see you right now and I  **think** you’re standing in front of me.”   
  
She hears Nazuna smugly laugh in front of her “Well I guess you’re gonna have to rely on me won’t you.~ Don’t worry though, i’ll keep you safe.” Michiru tries to object her “I’ll be fine Nazuna, you go do whatever you had planned today.”    
  
Nazuna disappointingly huffs and says “Well I guess you’ve given me no choice.” She starts tickling her in the side, “I’m gonna continue this until you give in!”    
  
  
  
This continues for several minutes until eventually Michiru concedes “Ok Ok! I give up! I give up! Stop!” Nazuna smugly laughs at her work, “Now, is there anything you need?” Michiru is still gasping for air but soon gets enough to answer her “Maybe some water. Actually I’ll get it myself.” She stands up and starts walking towards where she thinks the door is.   
  
She bumps into the door frame and stumbles backwards. Nazuna rushes over to her and starts guiding her down to the kitchen, “You know, I could just get this for you but since you insist I’ll let you get it yourself.” Michiru feels around for the fridge door and opens it. She feels around for a water bottle and feels one slide into her hands. “Hey! I thought I said I'd get it myself!”    
  
Nazuna smugly giggles “So what? Who says I can’t help you here and there.~” Michiru peeks out from under the sunglasses for a second and walks over to the couch. Her eyes sting for a few seconds from the change in light but it fades away.    
  
She lies down and takes a few sips from the bottle before asking “So, what do you want to do today?” She sits in silence waiting for a response from Nazuna but doesn’t get one “Uh Nazuna? Are you still there?”   
  
She lies there in silence waiting for a response still but she still doesn’t get one. She tries to sit up but she feels a weight press down on her. She starts panickedly breathing but hears Nazuna whisper to her “You’re just so cute scared but it does feel sad to see you scared, I can’t tell if I should stop or continue.”   
  
Nazuna smugly laughs and Michiru feels the weight lifted off of her. Nazuna continues “Sorry about that Michi, I couldn’t help but just do that.” Michiru curls up into a ball trying to calm herself down “Please don’t ever do that again, please never ever do that again.” Nazuna hugs her “I’m so sorry, I really am sorry. If it makes you feel better I’ll do one thing for you.”   
  
Michiru requests “Can you just keep hugging me, please.” Nazuna obliges smugly, “Ok, don’t think I can’t find a way to turn this my way though.~” She giggles and says “So, you know how your tail can change shape and all that. We technically have the same powers so I can do that too, shouldn’t be a surprise right? Well guess what, we can lengthen and thicken our fur. It can make our fur so fluffy and warm. Can you maybe do that for me for a quick second, you might be able to do something like that better than me.”   
  
Michiru asks “Wait, how do you know that?” Nazuna toys with her by saying “I’ll tell you after you do it for me.~” She obliges out of fear and feels an instant feeling of warmth over all of her. She feels a pair of arms grab her by the arms and lift her up. She feels herself being carried bridal style.    
  
She hears Nazuna stifling a laugh and she feels herself being set down. She feels the sunglasses slide off her face and Nazuna says “I’m taking this off for now, it’ll be uncomfortable to sleep like this.”   
  
She feels arms wrap around her waist and hears Nazuna laughing, almost insanely “You’re just so cute. I really can’t take time not spent with you. You know during the time before I came to Anima City I was alone for so long. Yes I technically had that snake but he wasn’t the same you know. It made me feel like I was going insane, now I finally have you. You’ll always be safe with me, nobody, not even that grumpy old wolf can hurt you. I’m really sorry for how I acted in the past too, I didn’t want to be hurt anymore so I kept pushing you away. Being an idol was the one thing that kept me going. You understand right? R-right?”   
  
Nazuna starts crying as she finishes up her sentence. She forces herself not to cry and moves her hands up from Michiru’s waist. She lifts Michiru’s shirt up a tiny bit revealing her stomach with a thick set of fur. Her hands sink a tiny bit into the fur and she starts falling asleep. Michiru sits there in silence as she feels Nazuna’s hands grip her fur. Eventually she passes out.   



	13. Chapter 13

Michiru wakes up to hear Nazuna crying, “Nazuna? Is something wrong?” Nazuna jumps in surprise and quickly tries to answer her “I’m fine!” Michiru edges over to her and hugs her tightly, “Go on, tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been asking me what’s wrong so many times so I want to do the same.”   
  
She hesitates but answers her “Well I just want to know something. Do you forgive me?” Michiru giggles, “Of course I do, I always have. Quick thing, can I get the sunglasses back. My eyes are starting to hurt again. Wait, about yesterday, how did you know about that fur trick?”    
  
Nazuna smugly answers her, “It gets cold in the winter so I had to find a work around. It’s just so fluffy too.” Michiru giggles at her answer.   
  
Nazuna giggles along with her and slides the sunglasses onto Michiru’s face, “There we go, now your eyes won’t hurt. I know you won’t feel comfortable but we might have to go to the medical center to get your eyes checked. It’s incredibly risky but your eyes shouldn’t hurt like this.”   
  
They hear a knocking at the door, “Stay here Michiru, I’ll get it.” Nazuna walks out the room and Michiru is left there in silence waiting for her to come back. She starts walking around the room and grabs a few items to mess around with.   
  
She opens Nazuna’s closet and slides up the sunglasses to take a peek. She sees an entire store’s worth of hoodies, oversized ones too, even for Nazuna. She picks one out and slides it over her shirt and jacket.   
  
It drapes over her and she sits back down, “I see why Nazuna likes hoodies so much now.” She takes it off after it starts getting too hot for her to wear. A few minutes later she hears the creaking of floor boards and voices outside the room causing her to panic. She jumps up and scrambles under the bed, she covers her mouth and turns into a chameleon to try to hide herself.   
  
She hears the door creak open and 2 people walk in. She hears Shirou say “So, Michiru is still missing but I do have some news about her. Keep in mind this is just a guess but after a blood test and a few guesses from myself I’ve concluded that she has some strain of Nirvasyl, a lesser one that only seems to affect her mind but one nonetheless. Do you see the danger she proposes now?”   
  
Nazuna gasps, “Is that true!? How did it happen?!” Shirou continues “I don’t know how it exactly happened. Even after using all of the medical center’s technology they barely got any info. You can come out from under the bed by the way Michiru, did you seriously think that’d work?” Michiru slowly crawls out from under the bed and when she gets out she doesn’t take her eyes off of Shirou.    
  
Nazuna edges over to her, “What do you want now.” Shirou starts growling at her “You know what I want, she’s a dangerous criminal now.” Nazuna protectively hugs her, “You’re not touching her. She’s mine and mine only, you’re not touching her.”    
  
Shirou face palms “Do you even realize what you’re saying, you’re acting like she’s some pet or toy.” She starts growling “Maybe I wouldn't have to act like this if she wasn’t in danger.” In an attempt to defuse the situation he says “She’s not in danger, if you just hand her over she’ll be even safer.”    
  
She tightens her protective hug around Michiru “She’ll  **be** in danger if I hand her over to you, you mutt.” Shirou calmly says “So you’re resorting to name calling now you manipulative fox.” He grunts “Why do I smell you all over Michiru, how long has this been going on.” Nazuna smugly laughs, “Oh it’s been a while since i’ve been doing this.”    
  
She taunts him by rubbing her face against Michiru’s neck, she slides the sunglasses off of Michiru’s face “Can you see well?” Michiru nods in response. Shirou grumbles “If you won’t hand her over peacefully I’ll take her by force.” Nazuna gives another taunting neck rub and lets go of Michiru. She stands up and tries her best to shield her.   
  
Shirou walks towards her and pushes her out of the way. He grabs Michiru by the collar and Nazuna throws a punch towards his face. It connects and Shirou instantly reacts with a punch of his own. It hits her nose breaking it and causing blood to gush out of it.   
  
She grasps at her nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It stains the fur as it starts soaking into it. Michiru sees it as Nazuna tries her best not to scream out in pain. Michiru’s mind starts to fill with angry thoughts. She digs her claws into Shirou’s arms and flips him over with immense force.    
  
She starts kicking at him but he stands up before it goes on for too long. However she continues throwing punches at him not holding back her anger. Her eyes slowly get overtaken by red and she grabs him by the sleeve of his trench coat and throws him outside the window. She leaps out the window and speeds at him before he can react, she continues pummelling him but he dodges out of the way.   
  
She screams loudly and grabs at her head. Her vision starts distorting as Shirou’s figure changes to Alan’s, increasing her rage. She launches towards him and her arms change into wings. She lifts him up quickly and drops him, leaving a small crater.   
  
A group of police cars roll up and see the scene. Michiru dive bombs towards him and her arms change back to gorilla arms. It creates a massive shockwave and makes most of him a paste and deepens the crater. Michiru feels a stinging feeling in her back and her vision fades. 


	14. Chapter 14

Michiru wakes up with her entire body stinging. She starts whimpering in pain and starts squirming on the bed she woke up on. She hears Shirou’s voice say “What’s wrong with you now.” Her eyes snap open from their painfully closed state.   
  
Her eyes start shifting towards a pure crimson red. Her breathing gets angry and she tries to sit up but finds that her arms are cuffed to the bed. The stinging feeling rips through her body and she continues squirming in pain. Her eyes shift away from the crimson and change back to their normal color.   
  
“Please, help me.” She gasps out her cry for help as the stinging feeling intensifies. She bites at her lips as she tries not to scream out in pain. Shirou pinches at his nose and says “Tell me what’s wrong and I might be able to help you but if you don’t tell me I’ll just leave you to suffer you criminal.”   
  
She tries to tell him about it but the pain intensifies more. She moves up her arms to cover herself instinctively but the cuffs dig into her wrists. Shirou undoes one of the cuffs and shoves Michiru to the side, exposing her back. He lifts up her shirt and sees a red patch of fur.   
  
He moves her back to put the cuff on but she resists. He starts to force her back into a position to put the cuff back on but she resists more. She mutters “Please don’t.” and after a few seconds of contemplation Shirou gives up on her.   
  
He walks out of the room leaving her to suffer. The hours blur together as Michiru tries not to pass out from the pain she’s feeling. Her vision gets blurry and she hears the clang of the door. She turns her head to see a pink shape.   
  
She hears Nazuna running towards her, “Michiru! What happened to you!” Michiru only whimpers in response and Nazuna starts checking her over for signs of damage. She looks at the same spot Shirou did and sees the red patch of fur.   
  
She starts yelling “What!? What is this!? How did this happen!?” She starts pacing around the room panickedly and yells “Can you transform into a human!?” Michiru obliges and the pain fades away with a small cooling feeling spreading throughout her.   
  
Nazuna takes a close look at where the red patch of fur was and finds that her skin is red but it’s lessened, almost to the point you could mistake it for a heavy scratch. Michiru breathes a sigh of relief as she relaxes. Nazuna finally calms down and notices the cuffs. Her anger starts boiling up and her thinking goes into overdrive.   
  
She uncuffs Michiru and hugs her tightly, “What did that evil wolf do to you!!” Michiru tries to explain to her, “Shirou didn’t do anything!” Nazuna starts arguing with her “That stupid wolf has been trying to kill you! He doesn’t care for you at all!”    
  
Michiru pushes her away, “Why do you hate him!?” Nazuna starts screeching at her like a fox “That mutt almost killed me!! Do you just expect me to forgive him for almost murdering me?!” Michiru starts tearing up and faces away from her, “Just go away….”   
  
Nazuna sits down next to her and tries to apologize “I’m so sorry Michiru. I didn’t mean it. I am so sorry. Please forgive me.” She starts crying and looks hurt when she doesn’t respond. Michiru faces her and replies “I accept your apology Nazu.”    
  
Nazuna hugs her and she returns the hug. Michiru shoves her face into Nazuna’s shoulder and gets extremely tired. She shifts back into tanuki form and the pain slowly starts coming back with a vengeance. She feels a hand reach behind her and grasps her head. She passes out from a mixture of pain and exhaustion.    
  
Nazuna stays with her a while longer to make sure she’s ok. She notices her ears twitching and giggles at it. She hears the clang of the door, “Can you please not do that. I don’t want her to wake up like this.” She looks over to see Shirou trying his best not to growl at her.   
  
Shirou starts snarling at her through his teeth “What are you here for.” Nazuna whispers, “Please stop yelling, you’ll wake her up.” After a few seconds of silence she continues “So, does anyone know about your secret you evil wolf.” Shirou keeps his calm and answers “No, not anyone from the public at least. Rose managed to keep the police force quiet about it.”   
  
Nazuna snarls slightly “Can you  **please** keep it down. I really don’t want her to wake up. She’s in pain and I'm pretty sure you caused it.” She keeps hugging Michiru trying to keep her asleep as she starts whimpering.   
  
Nazuna rubs the back of her head and gently lays her down. She glares at him and bares her teeth, “Why don’t we take this outside between the two of us.”    



	15. Chapter 15

Michiru wakes up to hear Nazuna screaming. She transforms into human form to avoid the pain and rushes outside to see Nazuna grasping at a bloodied nose with her fur slightly stained with blood and Shirou standing over her.  
  
Shirou tries to explain the scene “She just tripped and busted her nose, calm down.” However, Michiru’s ears are already ringing with complete rage. Her eyes shift to a complete red and she transforms back into a tanuki.  
  
The pain is already waiting for her however and she falls to the ground, transforming back into a human. Shirou stands there in confusion as Michiru starts gasping for air.  
  
Having no other response to her situation she runs away, sprinting through the halls and soon finds a door with a sign that says “Alan” She opens the door to see a glass box with Alan sitting in the middle of it. Alan speaks first “I didn’t expect you to be here. Well, I’ve heard about your little incident too so it was short sighted of me not to expect you.”  
  
Michiru questions him “Why are you here? I thought you were let go or something like that.” He explains “I’m not here for any legal reasons, it’s actually for my protection against you.” A few seconds of silence passes before Michiru laughs “Oh this has to be a joke, you’re immortal so why would you need protection?”  
  
He ignores her comment “Your fox friend seems unhinged don’t you think, a lot of people hate her and she almost slipped up in an interview. She’s painted a pretty big target for herself hasn’t she.”   
  
Michiru starts to walk away to avoid his taunting but before she fully leaves he speaks up “There was some truth to my statement. Your choice to believe me or not.” Michiru leaves and walks down the halls. She sees Nazuna leaning against the walls fiddling with her nose while holding a bandage.   
  
She huffs and looks up, “Can you help me with something real quick Michiru?” Michiru says “What do you need help with?” Nazuna explains “I need to put this bandage to keep my nose straight while it heals, I can’t keep my nose straight and put the bandage on it too.”  
  
Nazuna mutters to herself “Now, do I do this looking like a human for the next day or two or not.” Michiru chirps up “Whatever makes you think will be best.” Nazuna says “That’s the problem, can’t tell what would be better.”  
  
Michiru says “Well, I say we decide it with a coin flip.” She pulls out her phone and gets a coin flip app open, “Ok heads for human, tails for beastmen.”   
  
The coin flips and it lands on heads. Nazuna huffs slightly but stays in beast form, “I just realized something, I can’t change out of beast form or else my nose will get worse.”   
  
Michiru hums “Well that’s a problem isn’t it, guess you’re forced to stay like that. Sorry about that Nazu.” Nazuna giggles at her comment, “Oh that’s fine. I wasn’t thinking that far ahead anyways.”  
  
Michiru grabs the bandage and Nazuna positions her nose straight. Upon closer inspection Michiru finds that the bandage is bigger than usual, big enough that if Nazuna was in her human form it would never fit.  
  
Michiru giggles slightly, “Oh this was thought ahead much further than us by whoever gave this to you.” Nazuna nods her head slightly and Michiru unwraps the bandage. She sets it in place and slowly removes her hands.  
  
Nazuna removes her hands and thanks her. She replies “It was nothing Nazu, anything for my friend.” Nazuna scoffs and says “Oh you seriously think that still?”   
  
Michiru shrugs “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We are just best friends aren’t we?” Nazuna tries her best to avoid breaking out in laughter, “Oh you really are oblivious aren’t you.”   
  
She gets closer to her, “It’s so tempting to do something right now.” A few seconds of awkward silence passes and she speaks up to break it “Sorry about that Michiru.”  
  
They start walking through the halls and get to the entrance of the police station to find Shirou standing there. Before either Nazuna or Michiru can speak up he talks “I had to go through an entire debate with Rose just for her to consider letting you go so you better not cause any trouble.”  
  
Michiru asks “What does that mean?” Shirou pinches the bridge of his nose, “It means you’re free to go as long as I can supervise you and keep you stress free. I also had to agree to taking you to the medical center for a day of testing.”  
  
The girls squeal in joy at the news and Michiru suggests going back to the CO-OP. Nazuna groans at her idea but agrees to it anyways. By the time they arrive it’s already late at night but nobody is there.   
  
After a few seconds Nazuna says “It’s pretty late right now, is it ok if I stay here for the night. I’ll leave if you think I need to Michiru.” Michiru tells her “You can stay.” and goes to a closet to get a cot out.   
  
Nazuna rushes upstairs and Michiru follows her. They attempt to set up the cot but it snaps shut on Michiru’s fingers causing her to yelp in pain. Nazuna gently pries it off and she says “Is there anything you need to make that better?”   
  
Michiru shakes her head and Nazuna sets it up, thankfully without it snapping shut on her fingers. After a few hours of silence both of them fall asleep.  



	16. Chapter 16

Michiru wakes up to feel Nazuna poking her in the arm, “I have something to tell you Michi.” Michiru sits up and Nazuna says “I’m doing a second concert now! And you’re going to be my co-star this time, you sing amazingly but you never do it. So I’m going to give you the encouragement you need by being right by your side.”    
  
Michiru sits there in surprise for a few seconds before saying “You sure that’s a good idea?” Nazuna nods her head and stands up “I have a costume and all that planned out for you too!” She strikes a pose before exclaiming “We’re friends and stars forever!”   
  
Michiru giggles at the cheesy phrase and says it but with much less energy “Friends and stars forever.” Before Nazuna can question her there’s a knock at the door. They open it to see Shirou standing there.   
  
He speaks “Both of you follow me. We’re going to the medical center to get some testing done on both of you.” The girls share a sideways glance and giggle at him. They follow him and get into a car that takes them to the medical center.   
  
They arrive and are taken to a room filled to the brim with testing equipment. Shirou sits down on a chair with a slight thud. Someone asks Michiru to sit outside and after a few hours Nazuna stumbles out exhausted. They call Michiru in and Nazuna takes her seat.   
  
She says to herself “If they made me do that one more time I’m pretty sure I would’ve fainted.” After a few minutes she speaks to Shirou “Thanks for that bandage by the way. It actually healed pretty fast.”    
  
Shirou doesn’t say a word as he starts thinking about Michiru’s future and how all of this will impact her. After only an hour they hear muffled talking and Michiru stumbles out in her tanuki form with a pained expression and can barely support herself as her knees shake intensely.    
  
Both Nazuna and Shirou ask what’s wrong but Michiru only cries and falls to the ground with a word. She transforms back into a human with a gasp of relief, as if she was drowning in her beast form.   
  
She stands up like nothing happened and says “It’s still pretty early in the day so why don’t we go some places?” Nazuna nods her head weakly as she yawns. They walk out of the medical center and go to many different stores yet get denied service, even when Shirou threatens one they still deny them.   
  
They go back to the CO-OP with defeat hanging in the air and Michiru goes up to her room. She takes a nap and imagines the concert, she’s singing a song that she’s never heard before at all. She wakes up when the song ends and she rushes down the stairs.   
  
She grabs a notebook from Shirou’s office and writes down the lyrics. She finishes it and then looks it up exactly on her phone. She gets no results and her mind starts thinking. She sneaks down the stairs to find Nazuna and Shirou actually laughing together.   
  
Michiru hums in confusion and interrupts them “Sorry to interrupt….. Whatever you’re doing but I have a question for Nazuna.” Nazuna says “Ok, what is it Michi?” Michiru says “So, I had a dream where I was singing a song and I looked it up but I got no results.”   
  
Michiru hands over the paper and says “Is it ok if we sing this at the concert?” Nazuna nods and says “This is perfect. This will be our opening song too.” Michiru smiles brightly and hugs Nazuna.   
  
Nazuna returns the hug and says “The concert will happen at the end of the month. So you need to wake up bright and early for rehearsal.” Michiru nods and goes back to her room. The rest of the day passes by as she fantasizes about the concert and how it will go. Even when she falls asleep she’s still fantasizing about it.   



	17. Chapter 17

Michiru wakes up and texts Nazuna to let her know she’s awake. Within almost 2 seconds she gets a reply “Ok sleepyhead. Go to my house and I’ll take you to the studio to rehearse.”   
  
Michiru flies to her house to see a limo waiting with Nazuna leaning against it. She lands and gets in the car with Nazuna following her in. They ask the driver to put on Night Running. It’s put on and the rest of the drive is filled with both of them singing it.   
  
They arrive and go inside. Nazuna leads her through the place to find a dressing room. She ushers her inside and picks up a suit from the racks, “This is your costume.  **I** think it’s incredibly beautiful but I haven’t seen it on you yet.”   
  
She hands the suit over and walks out of the room to let Michiru change into it. A few minutes later Michiru walks out in the suit and strikes a pose, “Do I look good?” Nazuna excitedly nods and grabs her by the hands.   
  
She drags her through the halls and to a rehearsal room. She grabs a list that’s lying loose on the desk, “Nobody’s here yet  _ but  _ they will be soon. Read through this and get ready to sing.” Michiru tries her best to memorize the songs on the list.   
  
A group of people arrive and question Michiru’s presence “Why is she here? She isn’t supposed to be here!” Nazuna smugly grins in response, “Well if she isn’t allowed here then I guess the concert is cancelled then.”   
  
A few people grumble in response but oblige to her demands. They start rehearsing and two of the songs go by perfectly but the rest are a flop. Michiru barely keeps up with Nazuna and the rehearsal is cancelled early.   
  
Michiru sighs in defeat and walks out of the studio going back to the CO-OP. The rest of the month follows the same pattern but as time goes on it gets better and better. By the time the concert rolls around Michiru has memorized most of the songs and sings them near perfectly.   
  
They arrive at the stadium where the concert is set to take place. As Michiru sits there she remembers the day before and Alan’s ominous message rings throughout her head “Both of you better watch your backs closely. Very closely.”   
  
Before she can ponder over his message the concert starts up. Michiru changes into her suit. She meets up with Nazuna who’s in her wolf form and a dress. MIchiru compliments her “You look amazing Nazuna.” Nazuna asks “Wait, we need a name for your song. We’re singing it first so we need to announce it.   
  
Michiru hums and says “Well we can use part of the lyrics, how about Ready To Go?” Nazuna nods excitedly and they both get told to walk out onto the stage. Before they walk out Nazuna says “Friends and stars forever?” to which Michiru replies with “Friends and stars forever!”    
  
They walk out onto the stage, Nazuna announces the name of the song “This is my friend Michiru! She made a song called Ready To Go! That’s our first song for the night!” They start singing and finish the song to a bunch of applause.    
  
Nazuna smiles and takes a deep breath to announce the next song but before she can do it Michiru pushes her out of the way as a shot rings throughout the air. However the bullet still hits Nazuna in the side as she screams in pain. Michiru starts screaming for help but an intense ringing fills her ears as she starts considering the worst.   
  
She falls onto her back as she grasps Nazuna’s hand and repeats the phrase “Friends and stars forever.” with a somber tone. She remembers the talk at the medical center “Your beast form is causing you to suffer immensely and is killing you. The only thing we can do for now is to stay out of beast form as much as you can and we’ll get back to you.”   
  
She shifts into tanuki form and the searing pain rips through her body as the light starts fading from her eyes. Her eyes flutter shut with the last words Nazuna said ringing throughout her head “Friends and stars forever.”   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I noticed that Nazuna doesn't have any consequences and people complain about that. Decided to give her some consequences.


	18. Chapter 18

Michiru’s eyes snap open to a hospital room. Her eyes get filled with a blinding rage as she remembers the events and only has one person to focus it towards. She leaps out of the bed and sprints out the medical center’s hallways on all fours. She sees an open window and leaps out of it.    
  
Her arms don’t change into wings however, instead they sprout of her back like Nazuna’s wings. She glides like a bullet towards the police station. The memories with Nazuna flood through her mind.    
  
She doesn’t get sad however, instead her rage increases as she starts thinking “ _ All of that gone. In a single night. All gone. I’m going to take everything from him too.”  _ She screams in rage to the night as it rings throughout Anima City.   
  
She lands at the police stations by busting through the roof, landing into the reception area. She starts sprinting throughout the halls busting down the door to Alan’s room. Before he can even speak she starts pounding at the glass.    
  
It sends cracks throughout it as she pounds at it. It breaks with a loud crash. Alan gets into a defensive stance and grabs at her arms as she punches toward him. He breaks her arm but it heals within a second.   
  
She grabs at him and throws him through the opening in the cage. He hits the wall cracking the concrete. She pounces towards him and throws him towards the ceiling. He breaks through it and she pounces towards him.   
  
She grabs him by the throat and speeds towards the docks. He struggles against her but she breaks his throat over and to stop him from moving. She lands at the docks and throws him as far as possible into the ocean.   
  
He lands into it and sinks, water filling his lungs as he drowns. His body tries to eject the water to preserve himself but it fills his lungs over and over. He drowns but gets revived by his immortality, however within seconds he dies again.   
  
Michiru collapses onto the floor. She subtly smiles and mutters to herself “I did it Nazuna. I did it for you.” She hears the stomping of boots and the subtle swishing of Shirou’s trenchcoat approaching but she doesn’t care anymore. She passes out as she feels the rough hands of Shirou and his gloves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She got revenge but was it really worth it. Is suffering for eternity worse than death? Too bad she can't take it back now.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for suicidal thoughts.

Michiru wakes up to find it’s the dead of night in Anima City. She’s in her room at the roof of the CO-OP and for a second she forgets about the last day. However it comes rushing back and it crushes her.  
  
She goes outside to get a breath of fresh air after grabbing her phone. She pulls out the earbuds and connects them. She shoves them in and Night Running plays first. She starts crying as she leans against the railing.  
  
The memories force their way into her mind and it crushes her even more. She supports herself with the railing as her crying turns into sobbing. Her sobbing turns into screams of anger as it rings out into the night.  
  
She starts punching everything within sight and dents the railing as she pummels it. Her hands hurt from the aggressive attacks but she ignores it. Her breathing gets choked up and her screams turn to whimpers of sadness  
  
She throws the phone off the balcony and the earbuds too. She supports herself against the railing as she tries her best to collect herself. She looks down towards the street as it seems to stretch on infinitely.  
  
She climbs over the railing and hangs onto it by a single hand. Her hand slowly loosens itself from the railing as she starts fantasizing about letting go but she stops just short when she hears Nazuna yelling her name.  
  
Michiru tightens her grip on the railing but doesn’t look back. She hears Nazuna say “Please don’t do that Michiru. I don’t want that to happen to you.” Michiru yells “What’s the point anymore! You’re probably dead!”  
  
Michiru is in silence waiting for any more words, hoping for confirmation that Nazuna is alive and Nazuna somenly says “Come back over the railing and I’ll give you a hug.”  
  
She obliges and climbs over. Her eyes are blurred by the tears and she sits down curling into a tiny ball as Nazuna’s footsteps get closer and closer.  
  
She anticipates the hug, having it one last time to feel safe again. But it never comes, the only thing that greets her is silence and a cold feeling setting in as she starts accepting the truth.  
  
She tries to stand up but her legs are too weak to do that. She slowly starts accepting the truth Nazuna may be dead and that if she was a second faster she might be alive.  
  
She falls onto her side begging for Nazuna back and doesn’t even notice footsteps approaching her. She feels something drape over her and hears Shirou talk “What do you want to hear first, good news or bad news.”  
  
Michiru only continues her sobs in response and Shirou picks the good news for her, “Apparently both you and Nazuna regenerate similar to me so there is a chance she’s alive.”  
  
He clears his throat as he starts crying tears of sadness for the first time in centuries “But she lost a lot of blood when she got shot and they have to do a surgery to remove the bullet so she might not make it.”  
  
Michiru hears him crying and asks in a rough and wavy voice “Why are you crying? I thought you hated her.” Shirou only replies with “I’m sad that you might lose someone important to you, I lost someone important to me and I’m constantly dreading the day that you die now.”  
  
Michiru continues crying as she understands his statement. She considers how Shirou would’ve been destroyed if she had let go. She hears him say “Come on, let’s get you inside. It’s cold out.” She hears his tears hit the roof. She feels him pick her up and bring her inside as she drifts off to sleep with a sense of hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did consider for sure killing her off with a life ending shot to the head and a more drastic ending. But I want to keep a sense of hope and leave it open to interpretation. This is the final chapter by the way.


	20. Alternate ending 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to write 2 alternative endings aka the 2 ideas I had prior to the last chapter. The first segment is before the final chapter. The next chapter will be the final chapter.

Nazuna breathes in deeply but before she can speak she freezes up. Michiru asks if something is wrong but she doesn’t speak. She falls to the floor as blood pools around her head.    
  
Michiru rushes over and grabs her limp body. She shakes her and starts screaming her name. She hears the thud of a body and the cracking of several bones as Shirou beats the murderer to a pulp.    


* * *

Michiru walks out to the roof of the CO-OP with her phone. She turns on the phone and already sees the news. She starts crying as she knows that Nazuna is gone but she says into the air “She’s still alive. She has to be.”   
  
Despite her optimistic attitude she leans against the railing and hangs her head over the edge. The street stretches out infinitely and she drops her phone over the edge. She mutters to herself “She’s gone. In a second. If I-I had j-just noticed them she’d be alive.”   
  
She sobs into the night as her eyes get blurred from the tears. She grasps her hands tightly onto the railing. She climbs over the side, balancing her feet on the grooves of the railing. She releases one of her hands from the railing and hangs over the edge.   
  
She slowly loosens the other hand as she starts fantasizing about seeing Nazuna again. She hangs off by just 3 fingers before she hears Nazuna’s voice scream her name. Michiru tightens her hand, “Nazuna!? Is that really you?!”   
  
Nazuna says “Yeah it’s me. You look like you’re pretty sad. Want to talk about it?” Michiru says in a wavy voice “You’re gone. If I was any faster you’d be alive right now. You’d be alive right now if I had just paid more attention!”   
  
Nazuna says “I don’t blame you Michiru. You shouldn’t blame yourself. Please don’t let go.” Michiru starts yelling at her “Why shouldn’t I! You’re dead!”    
  
Nazuna says “If you come back over, just for me, I’ll give you a hug again. I”ll sing just for you.” Michiru waits a few seconds as she thinks about the offer. She climbs back over the railing and doesn’t see Nazuna.    
  
She sits down on the ground as she hears her footsteps getting closer but when they get right next to her, nothing happens. She sits in silence as she waits.    
  
After an unknown amount of time she feels a coldness setting in as she starts accepting the truth, Nazuna is only a memory now. Michiru tries to stand back up but she gives up. She hears Shirou’s footsteps approach.   
  
He goes to say something but is cut off by her “Just leave me alone Shirou. I don’t want to talk to anyone anymore. Especially not you.” For once in almost a thousand years Shirou feels hurt.    
  
He can ignore the pain that happens when he physically gets hurt but that one sentence she said feels like it stabs him right through the heart and kills him a million times over. He walks away leaving Michiru alone as she wishes.


	21. Alternate ending 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bigger trigger warning since this is the chapter that has an attempted suicide.

Michiru wakes up with tears in her eyes. She remembers the gun shot and it starts ringing throughout her head. She curls up into a tiny ball as she sobs loudly. She says into her empty room “She’s dead isn’t she. No, I can’t think that way, she’s alive.”   
  
She’s in silence as she starts choking on her tears. She runs outside her room to get a breath of fresh air. She starts breathing deeply as tries to calm her thinking. She feels sick as she leans against the railing.    
  
Her throat feels tight and she feels like emptying her stomach over the railing. She falls down to her knees and her hands support herself from fully falling. As she shoves her head in between the spacing the street greets her.   
  
A few seconds later she stands up and her hands grip the railing. She says “I can’t think like this. Nazuna wouldn’t want that. She wouldn’t want me to do that.” Despite saying those words she doubts them.    
  
She plants her feet into the railing and climbs to the top. The fresh air hits her and she feels calm. Too calm however. She vaults over and releases her right arm. She leans out, reaching towards the night.   
  
She says into the empty air “I guess nobody cares anymore right? Who would really miss me? Shirou thinks I’m a criminal and everyone in Anima City probably thinks I’m one too. Dad is gone and Mom might be too.”   
  
She takes a deep breath inwards and holds it there as the crisp night breeze sends a tiny shiver down her spine. She slowly loosens her hands and just before she lets go she says loudly “I’m coming to you Nazuna.”   
  
Before she lets go she hears Nazuna yell her name. She slightly tightens her hand so she can listen to her. Michiru says “What do you want.” Nazuna says “Why are you there? You aren’t actually considering that right?”   
  
Michiru says “What does it matter anyways. You’re just a hallucination or something aren’t you.” Nazuna calmly says “If I was fake would you actually realize if I’m fake or not?” Michiru hisses into the air “Everyone hates me anyways. You’re  **dead.** You don’t matter anymore.”   
  
She waits a few seconds and says “ **I** don’t matter anymore do I? Even if you are alive everyone hates me. They want me dead. Why not give them what they want right?” Nazuna takes a deep breath and says “Please don’t do that. You know you don’t want to.”   
  
Michiru says “Everyone hates me and I hate everything, I don’t know why but I do. I want it gone. And why not get rid of it all right now. I’ll be at peace and whatever this strain of Nirvasyl that’s affecting me will be gone.”    
  
Nazuna, in one last attempt says “I get it, you’re scared and angry. But I know just the thing to fix that. Do you know what that thing is?”   
  
Michiru says in a dead voice “The thing to fix it is me letting go of the railing…….. I’m sorry.” She releases her grip and she enters a free fall. She falls downwards and time slows down. She slowly sees the concrete getting closer.   
  
However before it gets any closer than it already has she feels a soft hand grip her wrist. She looks back to see Nazuna leaning over the railing with a scared look. She pulls her up and wraps her in a hug, falling to the ground.   
  
She doesn’t say a word as her breath leaves traces of panic in the air. Her breathing reaches hyperventilation as she stammers out “Please don’t do that Michiru. You scared me so much.” Michiru is in shock as tears leak from her eyes.   
  
She simply says “Thank you Nazuna.” As the time ticks by the hug that Nazuna wrapped Michiru in spreads a safe feeling around both of them. After a while longer Nazuna says “I have a little secret for you. Want to hear it?”   
  
Michiru nods and Nazuna takes a breath, “Well, you didn’t really seem to pick up on the hints but I kinda like you. Incredibly like you. And if I didn’t save you I wouldn’t be able to take it.” Michiru sits there in silence.   
  
She gasps in surprise as she understands her words. Michiru says “I’m so sorry Nazuna.” Nazuna says “You don’t have to be. I’m just glad you’re alive.” They sit there as Nazuna rubs the back of Michiru's head. Eventually Michiru falls asleep from the rhythmic motion. Not long after Nazuna falls asleep with her.


End file.
